Some mornings, usually on a Wednesday, Sweetie and I head to the Washoe House for breakfast. It has a long history for the West, having started life as a stage coach stop and then going through different parts of the journey, as a hotel, as a brothel, as a speakeasy, as a bar and restaurant with an small event space upstairs...the latter now describes it pretty well. It's not a white table cloth place, but it was recently purchased by a new owner and the food has improved. Whomever is in the kitchen knows what they are doing and they have a lot of great breakfast items, sandwiches and salads and burgers for lunch and the lunch items plus some dinners like a lovely plate of fish and chips or pork chops with seasonal veggies and fries. As with most restaurants, the pandemic was a challenge, but they tented over a large part of the parking lot and brought in musicians on the weekends and spaced picnic tables far enough apart to be OK, so they are OK. I like the Senior Platter on weekdays and Sweetie loves their crepes with blueberries. Sometimes, though, we want to eat at home, so I figured out a dish that is a bit like the blueberry crepes, but better.
Those crepes are first cousins to a Dutch Baby pancake, especially if you add fresh fruit, like blueberries, to the pancake when you put the batter into the oven. That's what we did last week, using a recipe for a 9-inch cast iron skillet (that's the small batch) and adorning it with both fresh blueberries and fresh strawberries. It was wonderful! There is the fragrance of butter and cooked berries, the puffy pancake when it comes out of the oven, then the tender pancake and soft, almost melty fruit. I like mine with a small amount of maple syrup drizzled over. This serves 4 if you each have a quarter as shown in the photos, but often we find room for a half each. Good thing for my waistline that we don't make these often!
German Pancakes with Blueberries and Strawberries (smaller version)
Serves 2-3
3 tablespoons butter (or non-dairy margarine or 'butter')
3 large eggs
1/2 cup milk (or nut milk)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
dash salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
a few drops lemon oil (optional)
1/4 cup fresh blueberries, washed and drained and picked over for stems or over-ripe berries
1/4 cup fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced
1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
As oven preheats, put the butter in an ungreased 9 or 10-inch cast iron skillet (or a 9-inch cake pan with high sides) and place in the oven, just until the butter is melted. (Mine started to brown slightly at the edges)
Place the eggs, milk, flour, salt and vanilla, (and lemon oil, if using) in a blender and process until smooth. Scrape down the sides, if needed, and process again for a few seconds.
Pour the batter into the hot baking pan, over the melted butter. Sprinkle with the blueberries, strawberries and with the sugar (if using).
Bake, for 16-22 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Pancake will puff up, but will sink down again as it cools once removed from the oven.
Serve at once. Can sprinkle with powdered sugar, with lemon juice, or serve with maple syrup and/or more berries.
Note: you can make this without berries, too, and it will still puff up gloriously and taste wonderful.
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